Emma Raducanu has been misguided by those taking care of her tennis career according to former WTA World No. 1, Kim Clijsters.
Like many, Clijsters was amazed by what Raducanu was able to do at the US Open a couple of years ago. The Brit became the first qualifier ever to win the US Open, and that in itself shows just how amazing that achievement was.
It's likely something that won't be repeated ever again, but she would certainly want to win a major again. The way her career has trended since then, it seems unlikely, even thought she's still a very young player and managed to produce spectacular level at times.
At times, she did show a high level, but a lot has been happening in the background that leaves many analysts wary of what might happen in her career. Her coaching saga left a lot of people puzzled.
Raducanu herself defended her actions by explaining that she's always done things her way. She wanted to try being coached by multiple coaches in a short time before settling on a different approach. Even when the choices didn't make sense, Raducanu went ahead.
Her recent scheduling decisions left even more puzzled, and even Raducanu admitted after crashing out early from the US Open that she made a scheduling mistake and won't do it again.
Still, former player Kim Clijsters tried her best to make sense of it. Speaking with Andy Roddick on his Served podcast, the former Belgian player explained how she looks at everything that's been going on with Raducanu recently.
"There’s two things that I think could be the reason… it’s either maybe not having the right people around you who kind of guide you and say, ‘Okay, this is important to you like the scheduling, building enough weeks off in between, like training blocks to improve, to mentally switch off."
"Or is it her? Is there other things going on mentally where she’s kind of just had it with media, pressure… whatever it is. It’s only those two things that could be the cause."
Ultimately, Clijsters believes that there is some misguidance in the Brit's team because some of her choices this year didn't make sense. Surrounded by coaches and experienced professionals, many would expect that Raducanu's career decision would be more reasonable.
Still, Raducanu's mistakes are not a huge problem because she's a young player with little experience, but if her team is not there to guide her properly, then it might be time to take some changes.
"I don’t know enough about her, I don’t know her personally, I don’t know her team, I really don’t know much about that whole situation. I’m sorry but if you have a team of coaches around you or whoever is in charge, there’s obviously some misguidance there."
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